Payton Dougherty

ayton graduated summa cum laude from Oklahoma State University (OSU) in May 2021, where she was named the Top Philosophy Major and one of only twenty-two "Outstanding Seniors" in leadership, scholarship and service out of a class of over sixty-four hundred. Further earning an honors degree in Political Science and a minor in Law, Payton served as the OSU Student Government Association's Supreme Court Chief Justice, Moot Court Coach, and the first-ever Diversity Director of the Oklahoma Intercollegiate Legislature. In 2020, she co-organized a Black student-led grassroots movement for racial equity, using her lead research and editorial roles to successfully advocate for, design, and implement a new, university-wide D.E.I. plan.

Payton worked as Lead Writing Tutor and a Political Science Research Assistant throughout college, ultimately co-authoring a conference paper on WTO dispute settlements and writing an extensive honors thesis on Social Movement Success and the Movement for Black Lives. With a background in Oklahoma criminal legal system reform, she moved to D.C. upon graduation for a Public Affairs fellowship supporting research groups that advocate for equitable justice policy. Payton joined the CPE Data Driven Interventions team as an Editorial Associate in January 2022 to contribute to Justice Navigator Assessments and other editorial products.